“She’s right.”
I peered through the fast-falling snow. I prayed I was strong enough to make that happen for her.
“Jaxson.”
I grunted, shifting. My bed wasn’t very comfortable, and something was sticking me in the back.
“Jaxson.” The soft voice was sharper. It was a familiar voice.
Grace.
My eyes flew open, and I looked around, confused. I wasn’t at my place but in an SUV that was stopped in a rest area on the highway. It was cloudy and overcast, and the snow was still swirling. I sat up, rubbing my hand over my face. I had driven for ten hours and finally had to admit defeat. We pulled over and crawled into the back seat for a short nap. I had woken up at one point to find Grace curled into me, the blanket we had purchased on our rush out of the airport wrapped around us. I had fallen back asleep, holding her tight.
I looked at my watch and cursed. We had slept way longer than I planned.
“I have no cell signal.”
I glanced around, not surprised. “We’re sort of in the middle of nowhere, Grace.” I stretched and rolled my shoulders. “We need to get going.”
“I think we’re close to a small town if I remember from the GPS earlier. Maybe we can get coffee.”
I nodded. “And food. I need to eat.”
She frowned but agreed. “Okay.”
“I have to keep up my energy to drive.”
“I know.”
I crawled up front, stretching my sore neck.
“We’ll make up the time. I promise.”
Grace only nodded.
Chapter 22
Jaxson
We found the town, which luckily had a little restaurant that was open. We ordered food, plus some sandwiches to go for later. I had to press on fast to get her there.
“Why are they getting married on a Friday?” I asked as I ate the huge omelet the waitress brought over. “Isn’t Saturday the usual day for weddings?”
Grace smiled. “Addi and Brayden never do anything normal. The winery is owned by ABC. The wedding is the first event it is hosting. And because we’re doing the Christmas thing as well, they wanted a couple of days to themselves between the two events. They aren’t traditional, and they didn’t care about the day, just getting married.”
“I want to go.”
“What?”
“To the wedding. That’s my second thing. I want to go to the wedding.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Because I do. You said you wanted to thank me. That’s how you can thank me. I’ll be your plus-one.”
“Maybe I already had a plus-one.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Do you?”
“No.” She set down her fork. “You are not announcing yourself as my husband.”
“Of course not. I simply want to go to the wedding. See the winery. With all this trouble, surely you can’t deny me that?”
“You’ll have to sit wherever. If Addi has room.”
I didn’t care where I sat as long as it was in the same room as Grace. “That’s fine.”
“Stay away from my family.”
I took a long swallow of my coffee. “I will be a perfect gentleman, Grace.”
“You’ll be my boss.” She emphasized the word.
“Of course.”
We drove endlessly. Grace called ahead and tried to get a flight out of Winnipeg, with no luck, so we kept going. Late in the hours of Thursday afternoon, I glanced at her. “No party, Grace.” We were getting close, but not close enough.
“I already figured that. I texted Addi and Heather. My mom knows too.”
“I need some sleep.”
“Okay.”
I had been awake for too long, and my eyes were beginning to fall shut of their own accord. The roads were too treacherous and the vehicle too big for Grace to drive comfortably. I had no choice but to keep going.
“If we find a place, we could stop, get a room, and sleep for a while. Have a shower. I’ll have you there by eleven tomorrow.”
She sighed. “Okay.”
She had been quiet for several hours. We had been running on adrenaline and nerves, and both were fading. Talk was sporadic. I turned on Christmas carols; she turned them off. She switched on some classical; I had to change the station before the music lulled me to sleep and we ended up dead. We found a classic rock station, and the heavy beats help keep me awake. As did the horrid coffee at the gas stations. My gut was rotting from the bad food and hot liquid I kept sipping.
There was so much I wanted to say to her, so much to talk about, but this was not the time. Silence was the best option.
“I’m sorry you’re missing the party.”
She shrugged. “Really, it’s okay. I’ll see them all at the wedding and on Christmas, and I’ll catch up. The ones I want to see the most are Addi and Heather, and they’ll be busy with their other halves. As long as I’m there tomorrow, it’s good. Really, Jaxson.”
I nodded.
“Jaxson,” she began, then trailed off.
“No.” I shook my head, knowing what she was about to do. “We’ll discuss the future in private, not in a moving vehicle while I am trying to concentrate on not crashing.”